Marc-Andre Fleury
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Position | Goaltender |
Catches | Left |
Nickname | Flower [1] |
Height Weight |
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) |
NHL Team | Pittsburgh Penguins |
Nationality | ![]() |
Born | November 28, 1984, Sorel, QC |
NHL Draft | 1st overall, 2003 Pittsburgh Penguins |
Pro Career | 2003 – present |
Marc-André Fleury (b. November 28, 1984 in Sorel, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He is the goaltender for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League. He is only the third goalie to be chosen first overall in the NHL draft, with the others being Michel Plasse and Rick DiPietro. Fleury is also known for his unique bright yellow goalie pads.
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[edit] NHL career
Fleury was drafted first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft and is considered one of the premier young talents in the league.[2] [3]
He made his debut in 2003-04, and played 21 games. He was rotated regularly and split the season with fellow netminders Jean-Sebastien Aubin and Sebastien Caron. He immediately began to show promising results with a 46 save performance against Los Angeles and 31 saves in a 4-3 win over Dominik Hasek and the Detroit Red Wings.[4] His first NHL shutout came October 30, 2003 in a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.[4] However, as the season progressed, his performance began to sink, largely due to Pittsburgh's poor defense-[4] the team regularly gave up over 30 shots per game, and rarely managed to become an offensive threat.[5]
During the labour dispute, Fleury played for the Penguins' American Hockey League affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, where he posted a 26-19-4 record with a goals against average of 2.52 and a save percentage of 0.901.
In 2005-06, Fleury was periodically sent back down to the AHL affiliate, where he had a solid performance. On November 28, he was called up to play in Pittsburgh for the rest of the season. While his team fared poorly throughout the year, Fleury's statistics remained relatively good. The Penguins finished last in the Eastern Conference and with the worst defense, allowing 316 goals,[6] but Fleury managed to hold a save percentage of 0.898, which was about .020 higher than Sebastien Caron or Jocelyn Thibault.
Despite playing behind a very shaky defense, Fleury was able to impress the team management with his technique and performance. During the summer of 2006, he signed a two-year contract extension worth $2.59 million.[7]
On March 1, 2007 Fleury became the first Penguins goaltender since Tom Barrasso in the 1997-98 NHL season to record thirty wins in a season by defeating the New York Rangers 4-3, in a shootout.
On April 7, 2007 Fleury joined Barrasso as the only Penguin goaltenders to win forty games in a season by beating the Rangers 2-1 in Pittsburgh's regular season finale.
[edit] International play
Marc-Andre Fleury has won two silver medals with Team Canada in the IIHF World Junior Championships.
Fleury is sometimes thought as a scapegoat for Canada after an unlucky goal in the 2004 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships gold medal game against the United States. The game was tied 3-3 with under five minutes left in regulation time when Fleury left the net to poke check the puck and clear a breakaway chance by the USA's Patrick O'Sullivan. The clearing attempt by Fleury hit his own defenceman, Canada's Braydon Coburn, and trickled into the net, resulting in a 4-3 final score and a gold medal for the USA [1].
[edit] Accolades
- Silver medal in the IIHF World Junior Championships: 2003, 2004
- NHL Rookie of the month: October 2003
- Mike Bossy Trophy: 2003
- CHL Third All-Star Team: 2003
- QMJHL Telus Defensive Player of the Year: 2003
- QMJHL Second All-Star Team: 2003
[edit] Personal life
- Fleury was born in a small town near Montreal to his father Andre and his mother France.
- He has one sister (Marylene).
- When he was first drafted, he lived with Mario Lemieux for a brief period of time as he searched for more permanent living arrangements.[8]
- Fleury has been with girlfriend Veronique for nearly 6 years.[9]
[edit] Career statistics
[edit] Regular season
Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | T | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | Sv% |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2000-01 | Cape Breton | QMJHL | 35 | 12 | 13 | 2 | 1704 | 115 | 0 | 4.05 | .886 |
2001-02 | Cape Breton | QMJHL | 55 | 26 | 14 | 8 | 3043 | 141 | 2 | 2.78 | .915 |
2002-03 | Cape Breton | QMJHL | 51 | 17 | 24 | 6 | 2889 | 162 | 2 | 3.36 | .910 |
2003-04 | Pittsburgh | NHL | 22 | 4 | 14 | 2 | 1154 | 70 | 1 | 3.64 | .896 |
2003-04 | Cape Breton | QMJHL | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 606 | 20 | 0 | 1.98 | .933 |
2003-04 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton | AHL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | |
2004-05 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton | AHL | 54 | 26 | 19 | 4 | 3029 | 127 | 5 | 2.52 | .901 |
2005-06 | Pittsburgh | NHL | 50 | 13 | 27 | 0 | 2809 | 152 | 1 | 3.25 | .898 |
NHL CAREER TOTALS | 72 | 17 | 41 | 2 | 3963 | 222 | 2 | 3.36 | .897 |
[edit] Notes
- ^ FLEURY EXCITED TO BE BACK IN PITTSBURGH. Retrieved on February 9, 2007.
- ^ TSN player profile. Retrieved on September 2, 2006.
- ^ Wigge, Larry. "A Penguin other than Crosby draws rave reviews", NHL.com, 2005-12-23. Retrieved on September 2, 2006.
- ^ a b c Worgo, Tom. "It was all about the money", Hockey Digest, 2003-12-01. Retrieved on September 2, 2006.
- ^ Kreiser, John. "WJC respite should help Fleury", NHL.com, 2003-12-12. Retrieved on September 2, 2006.
- ^ 2005-2006 Conference Standings. Retrieved on September 2, 2006.
- ^ "Penguins sign Fleury to two-year deal", 2006-08-05. Retrieved on September 2, 2006.
- ^ Worge, Tome. "In a Fleury: Pittsburgh's rookie goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2003 draft, isn't wasting any time making a name for himself in the NHL", Hockey Digest, 2004-01-31. Retrieved on January 20, 2007.
- ^ Kovacevic, Dean. "Good as goal: Penguins' prized pick built one step at a time", Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 2003-06-29. Retrieved on March 17, 2007.
[edit] External links
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Preceded by Rick Nash |
1st Overall Pick in NHL Entry Draft 2003 |
Succeeded by Alexander Ovechkin |
Categories: 1984 births | Canadian ice hockey players | Cape Breton Screaming Eagles alumni | Living people | Pittsburgh Penguins first draft picks | National Hockey League goaltenders | National Hockey League first overall draft picks | Pittsburgh Penguins players | Quebec sportspeople | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players